Introduction

Effective parent communication can make a big difference when it comes to communicating with your student’s families. How teachers communicate with parents begins at the beginning of the school year and continues throughout the school year. No matter what grade level I have taught, I have always kept the lines of communication open with my student’s parents. 

Beginning the school year with positive communication with students’ parents may help teachers throughout the school year.  If you need to make a call about discipline or grades later in the year. Your student’s parents will already be familiar with you, and in most cases, this will help make the call easier.

How Teachers Communicate With Parents…

There are many ways you can have effective parent communication. In this blog post, I will talk about the ways I have communicated with my student’s parents throughout my years of teaching. I will focus on informal ways like Meet The Teacher Night, Ice Cream Social, Welcome Postcards, or Orientation which usually take place before school begins. And informal ways during the school year which include Open House, weekly or monthly paper newsletters, weekly emails, positive note home, and or positive phone calls. 

Meet The Teacher Night

Many schools have a Meet The Teacher Night where students and their families can meet their upcoming teachers. Students are also able to see their classroom, desk or table area, and the other parts of the school. This was really popular when I taught elementary school; we did this most years.

 During Meet The Teacher Night, make a note of which students you met as well as which families you spoke with during the event. Maybe you have a clipboard and check off the names of students you meet or you can have a sign-in sheet. You can refer back to meeting students and parents at Meet The Teacher Night when speaking with them in the future.

Ice Cream Socials

When I taught elementary school, we did ice cream socials many times before school began. I would not suggest having it the night before the first day of school. I’ve had to do this more than once and it was more stressful than enjoyable. But when it’s done about a week before classes begin especially when the weather’s forecasted to be a nice day it’s an enjoyable event. 

When we had our ice cream socials, everyone met outside and stayed outside. It was truly more of a meet and greet and less of a Meet The Teacher Night where they also saw the classroom and school. Of course, different schools have different ideas and expectations for how they may organize their Ice Cream Socials and Meet The Teacher Night.

Welcome Postcards

One of my favorite ways to introduce myself and welcome students and their families to the new school year is to send a postcard. This means a lot to students and their families when they receive it before school begins. Now this can also be difficult to remember to do at the start of the school year with all the many things that need to be done! But it can make a big difference if you can get your class list and addresses a week or two before school begins. Just write them a simple note introducing yourself and welcoming them to the new school year! Get postage from your school and mail it from your school location.

Orientation

Since I currently teach 6th grade, this is my primary way of meeting new students and their families. We have orientation a week before school begins for 6th graders and new students to our middle school. This year (2023) was our first year being able to do it in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a very successful event and I was able to meet so many of my students and their parents before school began. During the event, students were able to tour the school, meet their teachers, get their books, as well as other things to help transition students from elementary school to middle school.

Open House

Open house is another great opportunity to meet students’ parents. In my district, Open House is a couple of weeks after the first day of school. During this time the school is open for parents to come and meet their child’s teachers. Parents are also able to follow their child’s schedule and see all of their classes. I feel Open House is most beneficial when it is closest to the beginning of the school year. When it is a couple of weeks after the start of school parents are more likely to turn it into a parent-teacher conference.

Weekly or Monthly Paper Newsletters

For years when I taught elementary school I would send home a paper newsletter. Especially when I taught first grade since I would send home weekly homework packets. I would include a brief weekly newsletter that helped parents stay on track with what was going on at school. 

In the newsletter I would briefly list what we were learning in each subject I taught. I would also remind parents of when their child had P.E. so they could have gym shoes ready. And I would also include upcoming dates like spelling tests, field trips, or no school days. Sending home a newsletter attached to homework helped tremendously in the classroom. Being proactive and informing parents of the things they may ask the most helped save time. Instead of parents having to call and ask these questions, I had many times already answered their questions in the newsletter.

Weekly Email

A weekly email is my primary form of communication now with the parents of my 6th-grade students. I write the email the week before and scheduled it to go out on Monday morning. This has been a huge time saver and a big help to families. In the email I let parents know what we are learning that week, information about upcoming homework, and I let them know of any important dates. This helps to keep the communication open and parents will email me in response to my weekly emails about anything they have questions about.

Positive Note Home

No matter what grade level I was teaching, I have always sent home positive notes. I particularly do this when I notice a student has really worked hard on something or when a student I previously spoke with a parent about in regard to behavior has turned things around. Positive notes home are just another way to communicate with parents, plus it helps make the student feel special!

Positive Phone Call Home

Now I must admit, I rarely have time to do this but when I do I’m always glad I did! A positive phone call home is unexpected and not routine so parents are genuinely pleased to get a call. It also helps parents to reinforce their child’s positive choices and behaviors in the classroom. And the students really love to hear that they got a call about something great they were doing.

Conclusion

Effective parent communication is possible to do throughout the school year! In this blog post, I have talked about informal ways of how teachers communicate with parents besides the more formal parent/teacher conferences. Weekly parent communication is best, especially through email, but if that is not possible just be consistent in whatever system you choose!